Feb 17, 2012

It's Never Too Late . . .

By Helen Lacey

Reading - Destiny Of The Light by Louise CusackWatching - RevengeListening To - The ocean hitting the rocks

I come from a large Welsh family. I'm the youngest of seven siblings and in such a big brood it's very hard to keep a secret. You tell one person, they whisper it to someone else, of course begging secrecy - heads nod, then calls are made and secrets are told in quiet voices. Wives tell husbands, sisters tell brothers, mothers tell daughters, you get the picture.

A few months back a rumour circulated. My eldest brother was up to something. There were whispers, but nothing confirmed. The main issue, is seemed, was to keep said secret from our eighty three year old mother who's job it is to worry about everything. Now, being the inquisitive sort that I am (I'm a writer, so inquisition is second nature) I asked around and pried the snippet of information from one of my brother-in-law's. My eldest brother (Let's call him EB) was, it seemed, taking flying lessons.

Right. Had EB ever intimated that he had a longing to fly? Maybe. Or had I missed that snippet of information over noisy family get-together's? I discovered that he's having a lesson every week and even considering getting his own areoplane. I wasn't exactly shocked because EB had been a competitive equestrian when he was younger and then there was the motorcycle faze a few years later. He had done interesting things in the past. This was just another interesting fact to add to the pages of of his life,

But it got me thinking about living out dreams. The biggest dream I had in my life was to get published, and now I'm fortunate to be living my dream as a full time author. But what about other dreams? For some it's the dream wedding, having children, owning a home, taking the trip to Tuscany, or grey nomading in the outback. What about the balloon ride, owning a Harley, deep sea fishing, whale watching. So, not only did EB's new venture get me thinking, it made me realize that it really is never too late to seek out adventure, start a hobby or try new things. I have an older sister who learnt to play the saxaphone, cello and double bass years after her kids had grown up and left home. She's also currently studying to be a barrister.

As a horse owner it's amazing how many people say to me, "Oh, I'd love to ride a horse." And then I hear someone talk about how they did one of those bridge walks and I think, I wish I wasn't afraid of heights. So learning about EB's new adventure made me add a few things to my own bucket list. Nothing too daring - horse rides along the beach are about as adventurous as I get.

19 comments:

Dreams are important, aren't they? Like you I realised a huge dream in getting published (and then getting published again!). But there's more to life than that and as you say, it's never too late to dream.

A couple of years ago I found myself (OK, well I plotted and schemed to make it happen) with my family in the back of a horse drawn sleigh, racing over fresh powder snow beneath a crystal bright alpine sky, listening to the swoosh of the sleigh, the jangle of bells on the harness and the whoops of delight. Definitely a dream come true.

A friend of mine decided at about age 45 to take up running and the next year finished the London marathon. She's currently learning saxophone. Meanwhile I'm looking around for more dreams to realise.

Oh, I'm always adding things to my bucket list, Helen. Some big, some small. Getting published was a big dream achieved. Travelling to Europe was another (though I'm not finished with that particular dream yet).

A minor one -- last weekend I bought a sewing machine. I have no idea how to thread it yet (my pending deadline is preventing me from playing with it) and I hated sewing at school, and yet...how cool would it be to make your own clothes? Once I'm proficient, I will post pictures of my delightful(?) designer creations. :-)

Me too, Annie! In fact, I like the sound of a horse ride along the beach too 8)I do think you get to a point in your life where you think, if I don't do it soon, I might not be able to at all!I bought an Alfa Spider for our middle daughter for Xmas. Secondhand, yes, but immaculate inside and out. Leather seats, painted Ferrari red, drives like a dream! We put a big bow on the bonnet and shouted "Merry Christmas!!" when we coaxed her into the garage Xmas morning.She didn't say it directly but heard through friends she did not want a sportscar, Italian or anything else. She thought it looked like a boys' car. Ugh.So now I drive it. And love it, so, so much! I've always wanted one. Obviously my dream, not hers.Still sorting out dd's car...she hasn't got her license yet so can look around lots again.

Wow the sleigh ride does sound fab. My big dream is to go outside the atmosphere and see the blackness of space (blame all those Star Trek episodes, I'm a geek girl at heart). Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is bringing that dream closer all the time. Can't wait!

On my dream list at the moment is definitely more travelling in Australia! It's such a fascinating country!

Michelle, cool about your new sewing machine. I can heartily recommend having a go at sewing knit fabrics. I've done quite a lot of sewing and after I discovered knit fabrics, I rarely stray back to woven. There's such great variety around these days too!

Helen, good luck with the bridge climb - maybe you'll be posting a photo of you with that amazing city view in the background soon!

I've had features and short stories published in magazines, so that's a dream I've realized. I got married to the person I wanted, I've had four kids, two boys and two girls. Another dream I've achieved. I'd love to be a full-time author. Hope I achieve this one!

I'll be boring and say its the publication thing. With the travel theme, seeing New York would be terrific. I've always wanted to go there. And learning a musical instrument, especially drums. Am beginning to teach myself guitar but would love a drum set - so one day!!

Hi Jo - there's nothing boring about the dream of being published :)It's a fabuloius goal. And New York? Yep, I'm with you there - I can't wait to go there one day. Maybe next time RWA has a conference in that city :)

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